Brassiere



Sept. 27, 1960 H. w. FROEHLICH BRASSIERE m Z; M 3 MM M/ 2% 5 W 3 r aw y.H m M Filed July 29, 1957 United States Patent 2,954,031 BRASSIERE HarryW. Froehlich 3129 Butler Ave.

Los Angeles 66, Calif.

Filed July 29, 1951, Ser. No. 674,868

3 Claims. (Cl. 128-472 The present invention relates to brassieres andother foundation garments which incorporate brassiere like breastsupports-and more particularly concerns the fastener devices employedfor firmly securing the garment in position on the wearer. Hitherto thebrassieres, for example, have almost invariably been provided withfastener devices located at the back of the garment with the inevitableresult that difficulty is experienced both in fastening and unfasteningthe brassiere. In one known device at least, the breast cups have beenconnected together at the front by lacing or by ribbon, but in suchcases the conventional hook and eye fasteners have been provided at theback since the lacing is not a convenient method of fastening and isincluded mainly for ornamentation. I

. Having in mind the shortcomings of the hitherto known fasteningdevices, it is one object of the present invention to provide animproved brassiere or other foundation garment of the kind indicatedwhich includes a new or improved type of fastener located at the frontof the garment, whereby the latter may be quickly and easily fastened orunfastened in a far more convenient manner than hitherto.

The improved fastener device is of particularly simple and inexpensivedesign and construction, and is capable of being readily fitted toexisting types of brassieres and other foundation garments with aminimum change in their method of manufacture.

Further objects of the invention will 'be brought out in the followingpart of the specification, wherein detailed description is for thepurpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitationsthereon.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are for illustrativepurposes only:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a brassiere embodying the featuresof the present invention, the brassiere being illustrated in place uponthe body of the wearer;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in section, of thefastening device in its position connecting the breast cups of thebrassiere;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through one arm of the connecting deviceand associated parts, taken substantially on lines 3-3 of Fig. 2; a

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken substantially on lines 44 of Fig.2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the cross-piece of the connectingdevice and protective cover, taken substantia'lly on lines 5-5 of Fig.2;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view illustrating a modified construction of theinvention; and a Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation showing a furthermodified construction of the bridging member.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, there. is shown in Fig.1 for illustrative purposes a brassiere which embodies the novelfeatures of the present invention. As shown, the brassiere includes apair of breast cups 10--10 which are shaped and: constructed inanysuitable manner, but are herein illustrated as including a reinforcingelement 11 beneath each cup so as to insure the latter retaining itsshape. For example, each cup may be provided with a substantially U orsemicircular shaped reinforcing element composed of a suitable springwire of appropriate gauge accommodatedin a tunnel or channel 12extending around the bottomand sides of the cup. i

In addition, each cup is preferably provided with a flexible tensionband 13 extending across the bottom of the cup and an upstanding tensiondistributing bar or the like 14 at the outer edge portion of each cup.

The. two cups are, connected togetherat their opposite side edgeportions ,by a substantially semicircularband 15 of any suitable shapeand size which is adapted to extend around the back of the wearer. Thisback band is preferably composed of orincorporates any suitable type ofelastic or like material so that it may assist in holding the breastcups firmly in place on the wearer. Alternatively, the aforesaid bandmay be mainlycom posed of non-extensible material and incorporate one ormore panels of elastic or like material.

Instead of being connected together as usual at the front, the pair ofbreast cups are separated at their adjacent inner edge portions andprovided at these points with the improved fastener of thepresentinvention. Complementary parts of the fastening means are securedto each breast cup. a

The fastener device of the invention includes a bridging member, asgenerally indicated by the numeral 16, this bridging member having apair of upstanding arms 17 and 18, as shown in Fig. '2, united at theirlower: most ends by a cross-piece 19 which may becurved between itsends'to give greaterdepth and/or to conform to body curvature, thuseliminating possible pressure. Means are provided for anchoring one ofthe arms to one of the breast cups, and means are also provided fordetachably connectingthe other or free arm to the other breast cup, aswill hereinafter be described in detail.

The bridging member 16, is thus of substantially U- shape except thatthe pair of upstanding arms converge upwardly with the result that theirupper ends are more closely spaced than their lower ends which areunited by the cross-piece. These arms are also preferably curvedlengthwise or bent at an intermediate point in their length, asindicated by the numeral 20 in Fig. 4,'so as to more closely fit thewearer and avoid any undesirable pressure.

The pair of upstanding arms 17 and 18 are spring infiuenced in such amanner that their upper ends yieldingly oppose any tendency to spreadthem apart. For this purpose, the bridging member 16 is formed from aspring wire such as piano wire, which is rust proofed in any suitablemanner. For example, the wire may be composed of stainless steel or itmay be chrome plated. The upper endsof the arms 17 and 18 may be roundedor of convex formation. It is also contemplated that the ends of thearms may be provided with bulbous end me bers 21,.as shown inFig. 6.. lj

The aforesaid anchoring means and detachable means may each be formedfrom a strip of material having a tubular channel therein. This tubularchannel may be formed in the brassiere material, or may be separatelyformed as a separate strip 22 of plastic or other suitable materialhaving an integrally formed tubular channel portion 23 therein and alongitudinal flange 24 at one side so that it may be readily secured tothe respective breast cups at the inner edge portions thereof. Forexample, such flanged tubular member may be composed of a suitableplastic, and the flange may be secured to its cup in each case either bystitching or by the use. of a suitable adhesive. The strip of plasticmaterial is in each case preferably concealed by turning back the outerply of the fabric forming the breast cup and stitching the back turned.portion in position around the flange and tubular portion of the plasticstrip so as to close the upper end of the tubular portion thereof and toleave the lower end of each tubular channel portion open for receivingthe arms of the bridging member 16.

One of the arms of the bridging member 16 is anchored in one of thetubular channel portions 23 of the strip 22 by an adhesive or any othersuitable manner so that it may be prevented from being accidentally orinadvertently drawn therefrom. The other arm of the bridging member is arelatively close sliding fit in the tubular channel portion of the stripmember 22 secured to the other breast cup.

In use, it will be appreciated that the brassiere of the presentinvention may be quickly and easily secured in position simply byplacing the breast cups in position with the associated back bandextending around the wearer's back, after which the free arm of thebridging member may be slipped into the tubular channel portion on theopposed breast cup. Due-to the fact that the spring arms 17 and 18'converge upwardly andare spring influenced, they function to yieldinglyhold the breast cups inposition and firmly oppose any possibility of thefree arm of the bridging member becoming disconnected from itsassociated strip 22. Tension on the band 13 across the bottom of thebreast cups is effectively taken care of by the lower end portions ofthe upstanding arms, and their associated cross-piece without anyundesirable tendency to' spread the upper end portions of the armsapart.

The bridgingmember 16 may be finished in various ways to give it anattractive appearance, and if desired, may be gold plated or otherwisecolored. The cross-piece 19 extends across the opening between thebreast cups, and may be provided with additional decorative matter, asshown at 25 in Fig. l, and may constitute an ornamental rosette, gem orother suitable ornamentation. This ornamentation serves an additionalpurpose by being provided with a sleeve portion 26 which may extendthroughout and cover the cross-piece so as to form a protection betweenthe cross-piece and the adjacent body portion of the wearer. The sleeveportion and associated ornamentation may be constructed of differentmaterials, such as a plush or other attractively finished material.

Referring now to Fig. 6 a modified construction is shown. In general,the operation of the bridging member 16 is the same as that previouslydescribed. In this arrangement, however, instead of utilizing the strip22 as an insert along the confronting edges of the breast cups, thematerial forming theconfronting edges is formed with a tubular channelportion 27 in each case by providing a spaced line of stitching 28 whichis inwardly spaced from the confronting edge 29, in each case. Thechannel portions are open at their lowermost ends for receiving the arms17' and 18' therein.

In the modified arrangement, instead of utilizing an adhesive to anchorone of the arms in its associated channel portion, other means may beemployed. For example, in Fig. 6, the arm 18' has been provided betweenits ends with an offset bend 29' which permits the edge portion of thefabric along the adjacent confronting edge to deflect into the bend asindicated by the. numeral: 30

so as to act as a retaining influence for this arm of the bridgingmember and oppose its inadvertent or accidental withdrawal from itsassociated tubular channel portion.

Should it be desired to further anchor an arm of the bridging member,where the arm is fitted with an end member 21, this may be accomplishedby means of retention stitching, as indicated by the numeral 31 which isplaced immediately under the inner end of the end member 21. It will, ofcourse, be apparent that with the retention stitching as shown at 31,the arm may in this case be made of straight construction without theoffset bend 29' therein.

Referring now to Fig. 7,. a further modification is shown for thebridging member 16 in which the cross piece instead of being constructedas a straight member, is in this case formed with one or more zigzagbends 32 which extend above and below the points of iointure 33 and 34of the cross-piece with the arms 17 and 18. The

, bend portionsjl-ie in the sameplane and thus act to distribute anypressure of this portion of the bridging member against the adjacentbody of the wearer, when the garment is more or less tightly secured ina wearing position. Moreover, these bends will permit a slight expansionof the cross-piece, when the wearer breathes, thus making the fit of thegarment more comfortable to the wearer.

Although the foregoing description has referred for convenience to theapplication of the invention to a brass siere, it will be appreciatedthat the invention is not restricted thereto but that the improvedfastening device may be readily employed for a similar purpose in otherfoundation garments which incorporate a pair of breast cu s.

'arious modifications may suggest themselves to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit of my invention, and, hence, I do notwish to be restricted to the specific forms shown or uses mentioned,except to the extent indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A brassiere, comprising: a pair of bust cups, a back band having itsends respectively attached to said cups, said cups having innerconfronting edge portions; a stripof material having an integrallyformed longitudinally extending tubular portion and flange therealong,saidfiange being secured by stitching along one of said con frontingedge portions; a bridging member of substan tially U-shape having spacedarms connected to a crosspieceand converging towards their free ends,one of said arms being anchored to the other of said confronting edgeportions, and the other of said arms being slidable endwise into saidtubular portion of said strip, so as to form a detachable connectingfront link between said cups.

2. A brassiere, comprising: a pair of bust cups, a back band having itsends respectively attached to said cups, said cups having innerconfronting edge portions; a strip of plastic material having anintegrally formed longitudinally extending tubular portion and flangeportion therealong, said flange portion being secured by stitching alongone of said confronting edge portions; a bridging member ofsubstantially U-shape having spaced arms connected to a cross-piece andconverging towards their free ends, one of said arms being anchored tothe other of said con fronting edge portions, and the other of said armsbeing slidable endwise into said tubular portion of said strip, so as toform a detachable connecting front link between said cups.

. 3. A brassiere, comprising: a pair of bust cups, a back band havingits ends respectively attached to said cups, said cups having innerconfronting edge portions; a strip of material on each of saidconfronting edge portions having an integrally formed longitudinallyextending tubular portion and flange therealong, said flange beingsecured by stitching along the associated edge portion; a bridgingmember of substantially U-shape having spaced arms connected to across-piece and converging towards their free ends, said arms beingrespectively insertable endwise into said tubular portions to form afront connecting link between said cups; and means for anchoring one ofsaid arms in its associated tubular portion against removal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,417,687 Hunau Mar. 18, 1947

